Hello! My Name Is...

I had the privilege of introducing myself to someone yesterday. What rolled off my tongue is what has rolled off my tongue for the last 35 plus years...

Hello! My Name Is David Dendy...

My iWitness...

This has been my protocol for over 35 years.
I have introduced myself to tens of thousands of people in this very manner...
There have been a few stark variations over the years...

1. Hi, my name is David Dendy...
2. Hey, my name is David Dendy...
3. Hey, I'm David Dendy...
4. I am David Dendy...
5. I'm David Dendy...
6. By the way... my name is David Dendy

You get the picture.

Do you know where this little insecure idiosyncrasy comes from?
Of course you don't!
I am about to tell you.

Back in the days of rotary dial phones when caller ID was but a cartoon reality on "The Jetsons", I had a "puppy dog" type crush on a girl. I couldn't have been more than 14 years of age. After deliberating with myself for over an hour in getting up the courageous nerve to call her, I finally, yet reluctantly, placed my right index finger in the rotary dial and performed a series of short staccato clockwise movements that in effect "dialed" her number. I had rehearsed my opening line to perfection.

When the phone was finally answered, I heard her very familiar voice on the other end of the line. With bold insecure confidence I said, "Hi insert girl's name here! This is David." (That was my opening line!)

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening...
The pregnant pause was interminable...
Beads of sweat spontaneously popped up all over my forehead...
My mind was racing...

And then she spoke these unforgettable words...

"David who?"

Only seven words had been spoken and the conversation was already over.

You see... the reason I say, "Hi, My name is David Dendy" is that there is a huge part of me that truly believes that you will forget who I am if I don't tell you my whole name.

I have been forgotten in the past and it is a terrible feeling.
I don't want to be forgotten again.

That's why it is so important for me to call people by their name.
I figure since I love nothing more than hearing my name called, I will return the favor to those around me...

Here is the good news!
God knows our name and call us by name!

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine." (Isaiah 43. 1)

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David! (Dendy)